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I know several of you had the wonderful opportunity to view the MR Fett thread last night that was ERASED. I was following this thread with amazement not because of the MR bucket but because some of the most SENIOR members of these boards were offering up opinions on this helmet. As I followed along I was stunned at some of the INFORMATION that was disclosed.

Now, I do not feel it is right for me to name the SENIOR members who were apart of the MR bucket thread. I have much respect for these guys and it is not fair for me to call them out. If somebody else who read the MR bucket thread wants to do that then that will be up to them.

anyway...the information that came out was about "secret templates" that have been used to create the accurate paint jobs we have seen on several buckets.

It appears that some of the best buckets on the boards have not been painted by simply looking at the reference photos and just painting but rather by SCANNING these photos and creating TEMPLATES for every single scratch on the bucket.

for me this explains the incredible level of accuracy that some people have been able to achieve.

I have been painting buckets myself and I have been very happy with what I have achived but I have always realized that my buckets are not on the same level as other members of these boards. Now I know why!!

At this point I do not feel using templates to create a accurate bucket is a bad thing but I do think that it is something that should have been shared on the boards "a long time ago". I think many of us just assumed that the most accurate buckets we done by artists who just had a talent that was second to none but now I know that I can accomplish the same thing if i had these templates.

I DO WANT TO SAY THAT YOU MUST HAVE SKILLS TO ACHIEVE WHAT THESE GUYS HAVE. IN NO WAY DO I BELIEVE THAT TEMPLATES COULD ALLOW ANYONE TO ACHIEVE A BEAUTIFUL AND ACCURATE BUCKET. YOU MUST HAVE TALENT TO PULL THIS OFF EVEN WITH THESE TEMPLATES.

I also want to note that you must have some COMPUTER skills to create these templates which I do not have. I would have no idea how to scan the referance photos to create these templates.

I do not want anyone to think that this is a "negative" thread. This is just a thread about getting the truth out. I am also asking these senior members to share what has helped them achieve what we all want....which is a dead on paint job.

I have seen other members share templates for armor, and even a scratch built helmet. I am hoping the same will be done for these painting templates.

I also hope that no fees are put on these templetes. I have a feeling that this might be the case.

These boards have been about sharing and passing on knowledge...so lets keep the spirit of this in our mind and share what I consider to be the best kept secret on thse boards over the last several years.

I will end on this..I hope this thread does not get DELETED like the MR thread did and I hope nobody gets mad at me for this post.

Hey DM...I don't think your post is Negative in anyway....I think it was well thought out and well written, and the respect you have shown goes to prove that your attempt is just that ...TO Get the "Secret" out. If it's even that at all...

And just to set the record straight...I DON NOT use templates...for those that have asked.
I'm thinking about it though , I mean if they were made available I would try them.....
Obviously I could make my own but I would love to try it on someones bucket.........any takers???

hmmmm....I have been a member of the TDH for quite awhile and never had any knowledge of any templates that ever floated around ? To tell you the truth, its a great concept but come now, its a concept EVERYONE who's ever painted a fett helmet could tell you hasn't crossed their mind at some point.

to me, unless they were templates lifted DIRECTLY off an original fett helmet, they are just as fan based as you and I painting from a reference photo and a brush.

Fast forward to now...how about we MAKE brand new ones ? Make it a communal effort. God knows, about two years ago, there were only a HANDFUL of GOOD painters on the forum, now there are MANY - with their "combined efforts " we could create universal templates for everyone to use-

I mean come now, let's face it, a template doesn't guarantee your helmet is going to be great. It will mean that SOME paint is going to be placed in the right place, but the real magic behind A GREAT helmet, is the TLC to every scratch, wash, and spray that applies to the ESB or ROTJ paint scheme. NO template could accomplish that, but it can give a newbie a really good start into this fantastic fett hobby.

Hey DM...I don't think your post is Negative in anyway....I think it was well thought out and well written, and the respect you have shown goes to prove that your attempt is just that ...TO Get the "Secret" out. If it's even that at all...

yeah, I saw the thread before it disappeared.
(I also saw another thread before half of it disappeared with no posted reason why)

The Templates sounded like a good idea. Of course you still need skill to pull off a great helmet. Nobody will deny that.
it just sucks that some people feel it's ok to keep information from others,
I thought that stuff only happened on other boards, not here where we are "family".

I have developed templates (as I said in the other thread) for the decals and kill stripes for use of traditionally painting them on. They worked like a dream. Its not hard to develop these templates but very time consuming. I am also curious to how they applied them. You can do them in a number of ways. I just cut my stuff out of think paper with an exacto knife but you can also use a plotter sending vector files to print, what comes out is a computer cut "sticker" template. Sadly these machines are a bit pricey but you can have these "stickers" cut at any signsnow, fastsigns, kinkos... ect!

I do wish that info was shared. I could have been secretive with my vector stencils I created but I made time to email them to every person on this board who PMed me about them. Plus I posted them. This isnt a "who can do the best bucket" contest! Its a forum for sharing how you accomplished your project so others can learn. I an fairly new to painting helmets and now have 3 under my belt. 2 Fetts and 1 Clone, I want to continue to up my skills and how I go about getting a beautiful accurate bucket. This can only be done by the people doing the best buckets, and the people doing buckets at my skill level to share info. I might have tried something that Darthmiller never thought about doing that could work well, he could be doing something to his bucket that I don't know about.

Let us come together, yes, just like the Beatles song, and share our knowledge to make a better bucket, and a better tomorrow!

One thing I wanted to add but forgot, just my opinion, but I doubt that FP will share his templates with us. Not saying he is mean, or holding back, I just dont think that will happen. I woudl think he would share how he prints then, cuts them, ect. But chances are slim he will post them.

I would be up to the challenge to use my graphic design skills to help develop them, perhaps we can make a project out of this. Anythoughts local guys? (Looking in Darth and Spidys dirrection)

yeah, I saw the thread before it disappeared.
(I also saw another thread before half of it disappeared with no posted reason why)

The Templates sounded like a good idea. Of course you still need skill to pull off a great helmet. Nobody will deny that.
it just sucks that some people feel it's ok to keep information from others,
I thought that stuff only happened on other boards, not here where we are "family".

Well, the way I see it, we could gripe about the "secrecy" of these things or we could get on the horse and make some ourselves...Me, I am a builder...let's do it !

Where is Wizardofflight !? He's got great skill and a great eye for 3D manipulation into 2D flat stencils... put it on sticky back and you're all set !

Honestly guys, yes, those helmets of the past were the bomb, but have you all looked around lately ? There have been some INCREDIBLE helmets coming out from everyone and the days of great helmets belonging to the few are done. Its called raising the bar...let's do it and cut all the heresay stuff out (like I am the one to talk, I didn't even get a chance to read the deleted thread - and get to action !

Well, the way I see it, we could gripe about the "secrecy" of these things or we could get on the horse and make some ourselves...Me, I am a builder...let's do it !

Where is Wizardofflight !? He's got great skill and a great eye for 3D manipulation into 2D flat stencils... put it on sticky back and you're all set !

I was going to start working on my own templates as that seemed the best place to start for someone with zero paint experience such as myself. If these are available, let's spread the wealth TDH. I popped this out in about 30 minutes, and I know it's not EXACTLY right but for 30 minutes its a good start. There's got to be some better Photoshop'rs out there up to this challenge.

One thing I wanted to add but forgot, just my opinion, but I doubt that FP will share his templates with us. Not saying he is mean, or holding back, I just dont think that will happen. I woudl think he would share how he prints then, cuts them, ect. But chances are slim he will post them.

I would be up to the challenge to use my graphic design skills to help develop them, perhaps we can make a project out of this. Anythoughts local guys? (Looking in Darth and Spidys dirrection)

I totally agree w/ this. He isn't going to offer them to us. I mean look how hard it is to get him just to PM you back. "Forget about it"
But I do agree w/ Maul we have some talented folks here on TDH such as WOL. I know if all you guys put your heads together you can create better temps than these guys have.

I totally agree w/ this. He isn't going to offer them to us. I mean look how hard it is to get him just to PM you back. "Forget about it"
But I do agree w/ Maul we have some talented folks here on TDH such as WOL. I know if all you guys put your heads together you can create better temps than these guys have.

"if you can't join 'em ...than out do 'em"

You nailed it Gonzo.

This is the thing that I don't understand in that a lot of these statements made are made from a position that idolizes a one true design that was years ago - People keep stating that its a senor members secret versus US type scenario. My question is, yes, these are technically senors but are you also stating that only THEIR helmets nailed the details of the Fett helmet...that THEIR templates are the ONLY templates that define the fett.

The last I looked, they have as much access to resource photos as the rest of us do and even the same paints..

My point is, the playing field is level when it comes to paint jobs and its probably the only level playing field we have in the Fett hobby. In armor, there's FP and the rest. In helmets, its MS and the rest...but in paint jobs and detail, people, its a level playing field and its no use bantering whether someone will divulge or share his/her templates- dare I say, with the collective effort, we could probably even streamline the process more !

anyhow, y'all get my point - I just hate the senor vs US talk that goes on, especially in such an area that people new or old have continued to demonstrate the SAME level of excellence in paint jobs w/ or w/o "special" or secret templates.